This blog is related to many IT Governance domains such as Service Management and ITIL, Enterprise Architecture and SOA, CMMi, COBIT, TOGAF, ISO 9000, Innovation, organisations supporting these frameworks such as itSMF and the Open Group. There are many synergies between these domains..and this is an opportunity to discuss these topics... The views expressed in this blog are personal and do not reflect the beliefs or opinions of the organizations to which the author belongs or is affiliated to.

10 September, 2007

Many people are considering Enterprise Architecture as a way to align IT to Business not only through the use of formalized processes. When looking at the various components of enterprise Architecture such as baselines, all kind of principles, modelling, target architectures, views, impact analysis among other of things….governance often appears as something maybe secondary. To be successful, Enterprise Architecture governance should be at the core of any program.

To build baselines, gap analyses, target architectures without a proper EA framework may end in a dead end. All new business initiatives should be validates against the current Enterprise Architecture, all exceptions have to be monitored, documented, and probably escalated. All changes on existing services, applications or infrastructure have also to be compliant with the existing Enterprise Architecture. This could be at any level, Technology Architecture (or infrastructure), Application Architecture etc..

When starting to think about your Enterprise Architecture initiative, there are two very important considerations that needs to be considered:

-How do we implement governance in the Enterprise Architecture and what are the associated processes-How do we ensure adherence and a real collaboration in the processes

Furthermore, it is important to identify the differences between IT Governance and Enterprise Architecture Governance. Standards such as ITIL, COBIT or CMMi focus on IT Governance but none of them really refer to this EA Governance.

Governance lies at the heart of the Enterprise Architecture processes. It should be a framework that there is a logical consistency underlying the enterprise architecture structure. This structure in its broadest context means that we understand all the relationships between artifacts which are formalised.

Looking at the various EA frameworks it appears that these processes are never really clearly identified and documented.

I have identified 6 of them. Obviously each company will have to design them in a way which fits the company’s structure:

Enterprise Architecture Governance - PPM

This process identifies how any new demand or business initiative is routed to an Enterprise Architecture team for a first level assessment and impact analysis. The process also integrates at a high level Project Management and ensure that deliverables are still aligned with the initial architecture definitions.

Enterprise Architecture Compliance

All changes to business processes, information, technology, application and solutions are subject to architecture compliance. This step ensures that all changes are compliant with the existing Enterprise Architecture. If not compliant, request for exceptions go through review. In the case of an exception, the Architecture review board may issue a waiver to approve the exception. Alternatively, it may deny the exception.

Enterprise Architecture Waiver

In the event that a project sponsor's petition for an exception to the Enterprise Architecture is denied by the Architecture review board, the project sponsor may opt to appeal that decision to the Executive board, which has the authority to overrule the Architecture review board.

Enterprise Architecture - Standard Management

New company’s Standards should be the result of an investigation. Once a study or a proof of concept is finalized and presented, the latest may become a standard.

Other situations may occur when an existing standard is upgraded or there is a need for harmonization and consolidation. In both cases, standards have to be documented according to existing templates, be validated and approved by the Architecture review board, and finally approved by the IT Management team (eventually the CIO).

Enterprise Architecture – Standard Waiver

In case of exception, a waiver exception form has to be completed and be approved by the Architecture review board and the IT Management team.

Enterprise Architecture Requirements

Architecture often deals with drivers and constraints, many of which are beyond the control of the enterprise (changing market conditions, new legislation, etc.).Architecture requirements are therefore invariably subject to change in practice. This process collects, identifies, stores and feeds requirements.

Enterprise Architecture Annual Revision or Changes

The architecture team is responsible for creating Enterprise Architectzre and revising it as an example, each year as recommended in many frameworks. Industry analysts and subject matter experts should be involved as needed in the process.

The Enterprise Architecture is updated at least on an annual basis to:

1 Incorporate amendments that were previously approved2 Incorporate new technical standards, patterns and services, information, solutions, and business processes3 Evolve the future-state road maps to reflect changes in business strategy

The structured architecture creation/revision process is defined by the architecture team in place and approved by the Architecture review board.

At the completion of the annual revision cycle, the updated Enterprise Architecture is submitted to the Architecture review board for approval and adoption.

Enterprise Architecture and ITSM Changes

There is a need to determine if a change (RFC) has to go through architecture compliance. If, in the opinion of the architecture team, the project has a low architectural risk, they may conditionally exempt the project from the architecture compliance process. This should be a step in the Change Management process.

There may exist additional processes…every company can extend its Enterprise Architecture governance the way which is appropriate.

That governance is put in place not just for ensuring compliance but also for ensuring enterprise wide collaboration.

Enterprise Architecture governance must ensure that decision makers across all disciplines in the company apply the same design patterns and are aligned to common design objectives.